Cheesy Hashbrown Potato Casserole {Funeral Potatoes}

I am actually including two different recipes for this post- both are for the same casserole and they taste pretty similar, but one has Cream of Chicken Soup in it and one doesn’t. I know that some people do not like Cream of Chicken soup, so I wanted to share an alternative. Both recipes are delicious and this side dish is a Sunday dinner favorite at my house! This also makes an easy freezer meal- I divide the recipe in half and freeze one half for another day. Serve it with some ham and you have a delicious meal with very little prep work. Anyway, here are the recipes:

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until the onion is softened and translucent, about 5-6 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about a minute.

Combine the chicken broth and milk in a liquid measure and slowly whisk in the mixture. Add the salt, pepper and thyme. Stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

Take the pot off the heat and stir in the cheese until smooth. Mix in the frozen hash browns, lifting and folding the mixture until well combined. Finally, stir in the sour cream.

In a medium bowl, toss the lightly crushed cornflakes with the butter until evenly combined. Scoop out the potato mixture into a 9X13-inch baking dish and top with the buttered cornflakes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, until hot and bubbly around the edges.

Just saw this recipe and saw what you called it in ( ) I have this same recipe and my husband nicknamed them (funeral potatoes) because when I was working this was a GREAT dish to bring for the dinner after the funeral. I also serve them with Ham and bean casserole. GREAT RECIPE!!!

I’ve been making these for years except I use southern style hash browns. This one of my most requested recipes to bring to family meals year round. As a matter a fact I believe I got this recipe after it was brought to my “ex” mother-in-laws home before the “funeral” of her mother. But these are not just Funeral Potatoes!!

I made the recipe without the cream of chicken soup and it was FANTASTIC!! For years I had made one similar with the use of cream of potato soup. I didn’t have the soup on hand, so I searched for a recipe without and tried this one. My guests this morning raved about (who had had my previous recipes before) and said this one was the best! I loved it too and now make this my go to brunch recipe. We baked a spiral ham with glaze had blueberry muffins and fruit. Delicious! Thanks.

I make these often, but I use hash browns O’Brien! Then I don’t have to add onions, and we LOVE the peppers in it as well! I also add about 1/2 cup of buttermilk, and I omit the butter. I love it with the crushed corn flakes, but the kids don’t so I leave that off. Thanks for sharing!

I just place it in the pan, to it with foil, and place it in the freezer. When I am ready to back, I usually let it thaw in the fridge for about 12 hours, then bake it at the same temperature and for the same amount of time. If you don’t allow enough time for thawing, just cook it a little longer (60-90 minutes). Hope this helps!

I just place it in the pan, to it with foil, and place it in the freezer. When I am ready to back, I usually let it thaw in the fridge for about 12 hours, then bake it at the same temperature and for the same amount of time. If you don’t allow enough time for thawing, just cook it a little longer (60-90 minutes). Hope this helps!

I searched the better part of the day for a recipe for hash brown casserole. Thank you I found the perfect one. Ilike moms cheese best. I know you hear it all the time. But I’m a scared freezers! So here goes. Do you cook the casserole before cooking? Thank you again! Cant wait to start freezers meals so I can craft more.

I would freeze this before cooking it. So just do all the prep work and put it in the freezer right before cooking. When you are ready to eat it, pull it out about 12 hours in advance and let it thaw in the fridge, then bake it at the said temperature and for that amount of time.

I make my taters a little different i do not add the onions i add also to mine about two squirts of mayo i do not add the butter or the corn flakes BUT ontop of mine i add french fried onions!!! We first had these at a funeral in Salt Lake City. Of course i only know these as funeral potatoes I really liked them but over the years i have added and taken away and what i have is the most moist creamy yummy funeral taters anywhere across the land

This is the only recipe I found where you don’t have to thaw them and I loved that because I decided to make mine last minute. I feel like there was too much chicken flavor in mine so next time ill go lighter on chicken broth but still very yummy.

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Six Sisters – If you are making a pan of these to put in the freezer (putting up your freezer meals for baby arrival soon), do you cook the assembled casserole and then cool and place in freezer? Or do you leave uncooked? Thanks!

I like the version with soup,but has anyone made it without the cheese? My boyfriend can’t have dairy, and he don’t like cheese. please help. I am restocking the freezer for the winter, we live in WY and getting to the store can be a bear.. anymore recipes would be great!! thanks.

This is my go to freezer meal. Last week I threw together 8 meals in less than an hour for my freezer cooking group. To make it a main dish I replace the cream of chicken with cheese soup and a can of water. Then add some diced ham. Cover and freeze. Before baking, I top with 1 sleeve Ritz crackers and 1/4 c. melted butter.http://freezermealexchange.blogspot.com/2011/09/ham-cheese-casserole.html

You could use fresh potatoes. You’ll want to rinse your freshly shredded potatoes before you cook with them, though; they release a lot of cloudy starch that holds water and might make your casserole a little goopy. You’ll need the same amount as you would if they were hashbrowns. A pound of homemade hash browns is about 7 1/2 cups of loose shredded potatoes, or 5 1/3 cups of firmly packed ones. This recipe calls for 26 ounces. Hope this helps.

Hi Karla. We always make this with frozen hashbrowns. Here are a few things I found on the internet about using real potatoes vs hashbrowns. The reviews are mixed, but I’ll let you make the call for yourself. We have made a cheesy potato casserole before and we have cut the potatoes into small cubes and boiled them til fork tender. Then we mix it with the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and cheese and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes. Turns out great, not mushy at all. Here are the comments I found on the internet –

There’s a massive difference in bagged hash browns and fresh grated potatoes, as stupid as it sounds I’m going to disagree and say that frozen hash browns are better.
First frozen hashbrowns aren’t just frozen shredded potatoes, they’re frozen “par-cooked” potatoes which means they’re actually already cooked a bit. Second the act of freezing them actually helps them release moisture by creating ice crystals which actually breaks down some of the interior structure of the potato, this moisture converts to steam when cooking and also helps create that crisp on the outside, but soft in the middle type of hash brown you’re used to.
I’ve actually had a hard time getting home made hash browns to actually be better then quality frozen hashbrowns.
But if you’re going to do it, you want to par-cook the potatoes a bit, shred, then let the shreds dry (as others have noted this is key), then do a quick brown prior to using them

No difference except the elbow grease and skinned knuckles. You’ll want to rinse your freshly shredded potatoes before you cook with them, though; they release a lot of cloudy starch that holds water and might make your casserole goopy and/or keep it from getting crunchy on top.

Haha! This is so weird! I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone. My mom was best friends with yours for a couple years when I was growing up in Layton. I was getting a recipe off your site when I realized who you all are! Now I HAVE to make this, because when we’re sitting down to Easter dinner tomorrow, I can say, “Mom, this is Sister Adamson’s recipe!” 🙂 She will love that. What a small world!

P.S. I think I have another one of your mom’s recipes in my recipe box. I also remember that Kristen taught me how to take the food off the fork with just your teeth. That way your lips never have to touch the silverware in case it’s dirty. ….We both may have had some OCD issues. 🙂
And my littlest sister, Camille, was named because we loved your Camille’s name! What else. Oh, at dinner the other night, we were telling my parents about how we would start up at the top of the hill between your house and Bishop Smith’s house, and ride our bikes down that ridiculously steep mountain they called a hill, and then NOT STOP at the bottom, because we wanted the momentum to take us halfway up the hill to our house. Even though there was a very good chance we could be hit by cars. Did you guys ever do that?
My parents wanted yours as in-laws. So Ben was supposed to marry…. the one younger than Kristen, I can’t remember her name. Then we got a wedding announcement, so we told him he had to marry the next one down. Then we’d get another announcement, and he had to marry the next one. 🙂 After a while he ran out of options, so we let him marry the girl he was in love with. What a bummer.

Hi Jennifer!!! I absolutely love your mom! That is so funny about your memories of the neighborhood! I’ll be sure my girls see your comments. I work on the blog with them! Have a Happy Easter and tell the fam the Adamson’s say HI!!!!

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